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What fans should know about Oklahoma baseball and NCAA Regional

By Chip Rouse

June 4, 2012; Charlottesville, VA, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners celebrate after a 5-2 win over the Appalachian State Mountaineers in game seven of the Charlottesville regional at Davenport Field. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Laferriere-USA TODAY Sports
June 4, 2012; Charlottesville, VA, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners celebrate after a 5-2 win over the Appalachian State Mountaineers in game seven of the Charlottesville regional at Davenport Field. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Laferriere-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oklahoma baseball returns to the NCAA postseason for the second consecutive year after missing the NCAA Tournament for two straight years.

Last season’s NCAA Tournament run didn’t end until the championship series of the College World Series in Omaha against Ole Miss. The Sooners won the Gainesville (Florida) Regional and then upset Virginia Tech in the Super Regional to earn a spot in the CWS.

OU won its first three CWS games, including two over Texas A&M, to advance to the championship series, where the Sooners lost in two games to Ole Miss. But the national runner-up finish was more than OU expected heading into the 2022 season.

The 2023 Sooners (31-26) inched their way into the 64-team NCAA Tournament field, claiming one of the final two selections. As a result, OU is headed to the Charlottesville Regional hosted by the No. 7 national seed Virginia. The Sooners will open up regional play against East Carolina, the No. 2 seed in Charlottesville. OU is the No. 3 seed and No. 4 Army completes the Charlottesville portion of the bracket.

The OU-East Carolina game is set for 6 p.m. CT on Friday at Davenport Field at Disharoon Park in Charlottesville. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

The winner between Oklahoma and East Carolina will meet the winner of the Virginia-Army matchup at 5 p.m. on Saturday and the respective losers will play each other in an elimination game at 11 a.m. Saturday.

This is the 40th NCAA postseason appearance by the Oklahoma baseball program. The Sooners are 94-80 all-time in NCAA Tournament games, have advanced to a Super Regional five times and have played in 11 College World Series, including last season.

Fifteen of OU’s 31 wins this season have come against teams in the NCAA Tournament field.

Oklahoma comes into NCAA postseason play on somewhat of a high note, winners of 12 of their last 19 games.

The Sooners rank 40th in NCAA Division I RPI; East Carolina in 26th.

What to know about East Carolina

  • Oklahoma and East Carolina have never met on the baseball diamond.
  • East Carolina is the champion of the American Athletic Conference with an 18-6 record and an overall mark of 45-17.
  • East Carolina was second in the AAC with a team batting average of 2.92 and first in pitching with a staff ERA of 4.30.
  • Outfielder Carter Cunningham leads East Carolina with a .324 batting average, and the Pirates’ big stick from a power perspective is first baseman Josh Moylan with 15 home runs and 66 runs batted in.
  • Trey Yesavage and Josh Grosz are the two main starting pitchers on the roster. Yesavage is 6-1 with an ERA of 2.80 and a staff-high 98 strikeouts; Grosz is 4-2 with a 3.65 ERA.
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